Flying in a balloon
Nothing prepares you for your first hot air balloon flight.
It all starts by waking around 3am, all groggy but you have a van to catch. Catch you shall and off you go to pick more people up for the trip. The morning air was rather chilly, yet there were still stray dogs awake at such timings, I was amazed and thankful I brought my jacket along. So off you go, into the darkness heading to what seems like a bushy rocky area - your takeoff zone.
The moment you get out of the van, you feel the heat from the fire blasting into your balloon. By now, you are wild awake in awe. Something so basic like fire, yet the scale of it still amazes you. You see the yellows and oranges dancing with the flame, you feel the heat of the flame and you hear the captain randomly (but carefully calculated) just blasting fire into his balloon. You know something exciting is about to happen. And before you know it, you’re invited to hop into the balloon basket. Funnily enough, I got into the last corner where other Chinese tourists were all in it.
Pro tip: get in last so you’re guaranteed the corners.
So one balloon has like 6/8 smaller compartments, each compartment has at least 5 people in it.
And up we go!
Your captain skillfully blasting just the right amount of fire so that you go up while steering the balloon to ride in the wind direction. It’s like an unspoken competition between you and other balloons to see who goes up first and of course who ends up being higher. This is where the magic begins. Being surrounded by other balloons in the air. And you catch a glimpse of the first ray of the sun, an egg yolk also creeping up in the sky. WOW. It’s nothing you’ve ever seen or felt before.
You decide to whip out your selfie stick and end up making friends with those in the same basket as you. And before you know it, you’re descending back down. Yet another skilful manoeuvre by the captain to land precisely on a moving truck. And you’re rewarded with a certificate and some sparkling fruit juice. And what do you know, you’re back at your hotel before 9am. And you learnt how there were about 150 balloons up in the sky that morning, which is A LOT. If I were to math, one balloon holds around 18 people minimum, so that’s like 2,700 people in the sky. That’s insane.
A morning very well spent I would say.
